Lightning-arrester.



No. 807,847. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905.

- E. S. MOORER.

LIGHTNING ARRESTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9.190s.

WIT/VESSESi INVENTOR .Ernest ,J. Morel 11 TTORNE Y S UNITED STATES PATENT 'orrion.

ERNEST SAMUEL MOORER, OF ANDERSON, SOUTH GAROLIN A.

v LIGHTNING-ARRESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed May 9, 1905. Serial No. 259,497.

To CI/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ERNEST SAMUEL MooRER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Anderson, in the county of Anderson and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and Improved Lightning-Arrester, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to lightning-arresters, my object being to provide certain constructional details for improving the efficiency of the device, as hereinafter described, and as pointed out in the accompanying claims.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate like parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved lightning-arrests! ready for use. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, slightly enlarged, showing the device viewed as from the left of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of one of the discharge-strips, showing the same as detached from the other parts. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the discharge-strip. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section through the discharge-strip and is taken upon the line 5 5 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow; and Fig. 6 is a cross-section through the carbon groundplate 20, taken upon the line 6 6 of Fig. 1 looking toward the right of said figure.

The base of the lightning-arrester is shown at 7, the service-wires at 8 9, and the groundwire at 10. Brackets 11 are provided with inclined portions 12, each having a central slot 13, the brackets being held in position by means of screws 14, which may serve as binding-posts for the line-wires. These brackets 11 support the discharge-strips, each of which consists of a plate 15 of soft annealed iron, the plate being covered by an insulating-jacket 16, preferably of mica, the jacket being encircled by a bare wire 17, the ends of the wire being connected permanently to caps 18 of metal, serving as strip-terminals or contact members for placing the strips in communication with the service-wires and other parts to be connected therewith. The caps 18 are fitted upon narrow portions 19 for the purpose, as indicated in Fig. 3.

A ground-plate 20 is made of carbon and is provided with a clamping-screw 21, which passes through it and engages the base 7. A metallic holder 22 is held upon the base 7 by another clamping-screw 23 and is engaged by the carbon plate 20, which is provided with a neck 24 for the purpose, this neck extending slightly through the holder 22, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. The carbon plate 20 is further provided with teeth 2%, disposed upon its upper opposite annular edges, as indicated in Fig. 3. These teeth are in juxtaposition with bent portions of the wire 17 immediately adjacent thereto, the sinuosity of the wire 17 enabling it to be brought into comparatively close proximity to the teeth 24.

Two metallic clips 25 are permanently connected with the two adjacent metallic brackets 12, and in alinement with the two clips 25 are two other metallic clips 26, each provided with a binding-post 27. Each clip 25 is connected with its corresponding clip 26 by means of a mica fuse 28 of ordinary construction. The binding-posts 27 are engaged by wires 29, which run to the oflice instrument to be protected.

The operation of the device is as follows:

by lightning or engaged by a live Wire carrying a current of the potential employed for electric lighting-the high-tension electricity enters the office by way of the service-wire and immediately leaps across from the wire 17 to one or more of the teeth 24 of the plate 20. For this purpose the several adjacent bends of the wire 17 are in juxtaposition with the several teeth 24 upon the principle that currents of high potentiahand especially lightning, tend to leap from points to points. If, however, the highpotential and high -frequency electricity is prevented in any manner from leaping or arcing from the Wire 17 to the ground-plate, and therefore tends to reach the instrument, the discharge-plate 15 being of iron is immediately magnetized and by this self-induction tends to retard the flow of the electricity of high potential and high frequency, so that the tendency of the latter to leap or to are over to the ground-plate is greatly increased.

If both of the expedients above described fail to divert the electricity of high potential and high frequency, it melts one or the other of the fuses 28, thus totally preventing the increase of the excessive charge to the instrument.

As the ground-plate 20 may be occasionally burned by lightning, the serrations 24 may be trued up by means of a file or a knife, and when the wires 17 are destroyed or damaged they may be removed. As each of the discharge-strips 16 is removable and the caps 18 may be taken off and the wire 17 unwound, these parts may be immediately replaced by others and the discharge-strip replaced in its position.

The purpose in inclining the metallic brackets and discharge-strip is to enable one edge of the discharge-strip to be presented directly toward the serrations or teeth of the groundplate. This position renders the device somewhat more sensitive to lightning, for the reason that the angles made by the serrations are better in position, as will be understood from Fig. 2.

I have found that the inductance of the plates 15 is greatly increased by making these plates comparatively wide and thin. The idea seems to be that by so doing the wire 17 is not only lengthened and its ohmic resistance increased, but its inductance in acting upon the metallic iron encircled by it is such as to increase the self-induction of the dischargestrip to a maximum.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a lightning-arrester, the combination of a ground-plate provided with teeth, and a discharge strip disposed adjacent to said ground-plate, said discharge-strip consisting of a metallic plate, insulating material encircling the same, a bare wire mounted upon said insulating material, surrounding definite portions of said wire being in juxtaposition with said teeth of said ground-plate, and electrical connections for said ground-plate and for said discharge-strip.

2. In a lightning-arrester, the combination of a ground-plate provided with teeth, metallic brackets provided with contact portions, electrical connections for said brackets, and a gaging said metallic terminals, and a groundplate provided with teeth and disposed adjacent to said discharge-strip.

5. In a lightning-arrester, the combination 'of a ground-plate provided with teeth, metallic brackets mounted adjacent to said groundplate and provided with a portion inclined obliquely to said teeth, said brackets being provided with slots, and a discharge-strip provided with contact-terminals to be detachably placed within said slots.

6. In a lightning-arrester, the combination I of a comparatively wide and thin iron plate, a jacket of insulating material enveloping said plate, metallic caps mounted upon said jacket of insulating material and encircling the ends of said plate, a bare wire connecting said caps together, metallic brackets provided with slots and adapted to detachably support said caps, and a ground-plate disposed adjacent to said wire and provided with teeth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERNEST SAMUEL MOORER Witnesses:

H. P. THouAs, S. N. GILMER. 

